5 of our favourite Nature Study books for homeschooling

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When I was little, I’d spend hours outdoors. I was lucky enough to live in a little village, with fields right behind my house that belonged to my grandma so I was free to explore as much as I liked. I remember long days climbing trees, building dens, hiding in the ditches. I’d collect treasure depending on the time of year – conkers and acorns in the autumn, daisies and buttercups in the summer. We’d find birds nests and empty egg shells, spot different flowers and leaves while out playing. I loved the freedom I had, as well as the connection with the world around me.

Nature studies are one of our favourite topics to cover in our homeschool studies. Ever since my girls were little, we’ve spent as much time outdoors as possible, connecting with the world around us, observing the changing seasons and learning about the plants and wildlife that we share our world with. Long walks, time spent observing the changes the seasons bring, treasure hunting to see what goodies nature has to offer us. We’ve always had a nature shelf in our home, a space we change up with each new season, fill with the treasures the girls have collected, display seasonal artwork and keep some useful books to dive into.

I thought I’d share a few of our favourite books here today, ones that we find ourselves using again and again, books that are great as a reference for you or ones that are perfect for your kiddos to delve into themselves.

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The Kids Nature book {currently unavailable but you might be able to source it elsewhere} – I bought this secondhand a few years ago, and love that it has a task for each day fo the year. It’s a great way to always have a seasonally appropriate nature activity ready. We don’t use it every day, and sometimes cheat and do the tasks on a different day {gasp} but it has some great ideas, and now my girls are bigger I’ll often find them having a nose for something to do in it themselves.

The Nature Connection – A fantastic resource, split into seasons and full of advice – from how to identify flowers and leaves, to hands-on activities, some lovely seasonal poems throughout and so many things to do. My girls love to flick through this, and I’ll dive in for an activity if they’re at a loose end.

Play the forest school way – I wrote a full review of this here, this book is great whether you’re looking for some game and craft ideas for your family or for a home ed group.

Science in seconds & Nature in a nutshell – these two books are fantastic – quick, easy activities and experiments that you can do right now. My girls can do many of them by themselves, most don’t need any specialised items. We use these books all the time. Great rainy day books – my kids often dig them out on those days we’re at home, and they need some inspiration of what to do.

If you’re looking for some great seasonal resources, there are some fantastic ideas and activities over on Nurturestore. Also, have you seen the newly launched Seasons School? It’s certainly worth watching if you’re looking for a seasonal, nature study based curriculum.

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